GD to produce Singaporean airburst grenades for the US military

Singapore based Advanced Material Engineering Pte Ltd (AME) is teaming with US industry giant General Dynamics to produce manufacture 40mm Air Burst Ammunition for the U.S. military.

GD announced today that its Ordnance and Tactical Systems (OTS) subsidiary has entered into a strategic agreement with AME, the ammunition and small arms subsidiary of Singaporean defence firm ST Kinetics. The agreement licenses the manufacturing of the new ammo for the US market.

Airburst ammunition is highly effective against concealed and defilade targets. The 40mm ammunition can be fired from existing U.S. Army grenade launchers such as the Mk19 and MK47.

Uniquely different from conventional ammunition, the 40mm airburst uses a programmable, time-based fuse technology that computes and programs the detonation time into the fuze. Once fired, the fuze counts down to zero detonating at the intended target point.

This ammunition will provide the warfighter with the capability to program ammunition to detonate at a specific distance, greatly increasing the effectiveness, flexibility and lethality of their weapon systems.

Providing these handheld computing devices is one of the growth areas GD is aiming at. “By integrating programmable ammunition with innovative products, such as our Next Generation Fire Control System, we can provide the warfighter with versatility and overmatch capability that is fully interoperable with our weapon systems currently in service,” said Tim McAuliffe, vice president and general manager of medium caliber ammunition and weapons for General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems.

AME is one of the leading suppliers of 40mm ammunition in the world. AME’s 40mm ammunition is currently in service in Europe , Canada , Africa and Asia Pacific.